On a continual basis, the educational institutions in this country are questioned, attacked, and vilified. There seems to be a need to deny that there is much of a pay off in educating as many people as possible.

It isn’t a particularly new or mind bending debate. Where there are students and schools, there will be debate.

The quality of the debate is what is questionable. The notion that providing an education to everyone is an “entitlement” tends to drag the focus away from education and into the pig sty of partisan politics, no offence to pigs.

Do we actually get a return for being educated? Education is a very broad, finely faceted term after all. Short answer: Yes.

In general, high school grads make more money than drop outs, Community College grads make more than high school grads, University grads make more than Community College grads, and anything past a BA or BS tends to make more than just the basic degree. Technical school grads make more than high school or Community College grads, and in some fields make substantially more than University grads.

That’s all fine and dandy, but it only addresses the salary part of the equation. Wait, there’s more?

The ability to think critically and creatively aren’t always quantifiable, but are certainly a major player in the whole educational universe. Without these two abilities the probability of progress isn’t very good.

Robots are able to do just about anything. Programmed correctly, they don’t need much. Any glitch in whatever it is they are doing tends to bring them to a stop, or results in a few thousand unreliable part and welds. They have zero ability to think. They only respond to the inputs and act according to the programmed responses that are on the old motherboard. Artificial intelligence isn’t quite here yet.

The United States provides a pretty good atmosphere for opportunity. Educated minds, capable of reasoned debate, creative thought, and the ability to recognise that there is no success like failure, and failure is no success at all (Bob Dylan, a long time ago), are the key to the future.

It takes education, for everyone, to move ahead. That may be the biggest payoff of all.